Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s base of support, mostly downtrodden black women and youths, remained loyal. In 2009, months before general elections, ANC members made her No 5 on their election list, a measure of her enduring popularity.

“At a national government level, we have declared that Winnie Mandela will have a national official funeral. We would like to express our gratitude and our thanks to the many across the country and the world who are wishing us well,” said President Ramaphosa.

As the mother of two of Mandela’s children, Madikizela-Mandela and her ex-husband appeared to rebuild a friendship in his final years. It was not unusual to see him at public events with her on one side and his third wife, Graca Machel, on the other. Madikizela-Mandela later became embroiled in disputes over Mandela’s estate.

“As we say in African culture, a tree that provided shade for the people of South Africa, for the people who were in the struggle who used to run under this tree for refuge and security. We are sad that this tree has finally fallen,” the president added.

South Africa The South African government has announced a state funeral for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, a former wife of the country’s first black president, Nelson Mandela. “Freedom fighter Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela will be laid to rest on 14 April 2018, during a state funeral,” a government statement read. Winnie, touted as mother of the nation, passed away on at Netcare Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg on Monday, April 1, after protracted illness. “She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year,” Victor Dlamini, a family spokesperson, said in a statement.

At a national government level, we have declared that Winnie Mandela will have a national official funeral. We would like to express our gratitude and our thanks to the many across the country and the world who are wishing us well. “She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones.” Ahead of the funeral, an official memorial service of Madikizela-Mandela will take place on 11 April 2018.

President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement on Monday night after visiting the family home of the former activist in Orlando, Soweto. “At a national government level, we have declared that Winnie Mandela will have a national official funeral. We would like to express our gratitude and our thanks to the many across the country and the world who are wishing us well,” said President Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa stressed that Madikizela-Mandela had left behind a huge legacy. He had earlier met with the Mandela family to offer his condolences and support. “As we say in African culture, a tree that provided shade for the people of South Africa, for the people who were in the struggle who used to run under this tree for refuge and security. We are sad that this tree has finally fallen,” the president added.

In light of Clark’s killing, which sparked weeks of protests, California lawmakers have proposed a drastic change that would limit the scenarios in which police officers can use deadly force. The bill would replace the “reasonable force” rule with a stricter “necessary force” standard.

New York City police officers shot and killed a black man who was known to be mentally ill on a Brooklyn street corner on Wednesday afternoon after he pointed what the officers believed was a gun at them, the authorities said. The object, however, turned out to be a metal pipe with a knob on it.

“Let’s play out the scenario had it been different,” he said. “If this individual with a loaded weapon, who for whatever reason, including a mental health challenge, was ready to use it, that’s a split-second matter of trying to save lives right then and there.

“He was a good father. He wasn’t a bad person. No matter how they want to spin it, he wasn’t a bad person,” Smith said. “Too many black people are dying at hands of police officers and it’s about time something be done.”

Critics say the cops should’ve asked him to raise his hands before firing, or at least aimed for his leg. But the video suggests the officers had scant time to react; they were told he had a weapon and believed they saw one — pointing straight at them. They had every right to defend themselves. (As for aiming at his leg, cops only do that in movies; the risk of missing is too great.)

Vassell’s death comes amid a resurgence of questions about law enforcement’s unequal treatment of people of color following another police shooting recently in Sacramento, California. Police there said they thought Stephon Clark had a gun, but only a cell phone was found near his body.

New York’s Finest are on the hot seat again after four officers fatally shot an unarmed Brooklyn man, Saheed Vassell, on Wednesday. They don’t deserve it — but the city mental-health system does.

An employee at a beauty salon on the corner, Angie, 52, said she heard the police fire and then saw the man drop. She said the police then fired several more shots before they ran over to the man and handcuffed him.

“I heard all these shots, I thought it was firecrackers at first. I turned around and you just see the cops standing over the guy,” witness Chris J. said. “First it was one, then it was nonstop after that.”

Near the end of the video, Vassell can be seen approaching an intersection and pointing the object toward the street. The image freezes and text states, “At this point, responding officers discharged their weapon.”

After the shooting, officers discovered that the object was “a pipe with some sort of knob on it,” Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan said at a news conference.

The officers were responding to calls of a man using a gun to terrorize folks, including an adult with a kid. When they got to the scene, Vassell, as video shows, took what police called “a two-handed shooting stance” and pointed the “gun” at the cops.

“It appears we fired 10 rounds between the four officers,” Monahan said. The unidentified officers, who were not wearing body cameras, discovered the metal pipe at the scene.

“They just hopped out of the car. It’s almost like they did a hit. They didn’t say please. They didn’t say put your hands up, nothing,” Hinds said.

“We were always worried for him. We would say should anything happen to him, we just have to do what we can do,” he said.

Cunningham, who has two advanced degrees from Harvard University, studied the health differences between people from various backgrounds, including race, gender, geography and class, according to his biography on the CDC’s website. Cunningham has also been deployed to help during public health emergencies, including Superstorm Sandy and the Ebola and Zika viruses, his biography says.

Cunningham’s parents had reported him missing on Feb. 14, two days after he found out he wasn’t getting a promotion at work and stopped contacting members of his close-knit family. Cunningham, who went home sick from work on Feb. 12, had also apparently left behind his dog, wallet, car and phone in his home, which alarmed his parents, who had traveled to Atlanta from Maryland to check on him, police said.

O’Connor, commander of the police department’s major crimes division, told reporters that during the course of the investigation, detectives interviewed family members, friends and colleagues and looked at many other factors — none of which showed any indication that there had been foul play. O’Connor said that although authorities are still awaiting toxicology results and for the medical examiner’s report to be finalized, investigators believe that Cunningham drowned.

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Police knocked on doors in his neighborhood and searched nearby woods and a cemetery in the area and found nothing.In the first days after his disappearance, conspiracy theorists filled in their own blanks. Some people speculated that Cunningham was a whistle-blower who had warned that the flu shot was responsible for this year’s deadly season.His father called that a lie. Police shot down the theory, too, saying Cunningham worked with chronic, not infectious, diseases, and didn’t have access to classified information.According to People, Cunningham’s career highlights included co-writing 28 publications about how health issues affect minorities. He also worked on numerous public health emergencies, including the Ebola outbreak and the Zika virus.Last October, the Atlanta Business Chronicle featured him as one of its “40-Under-40” rising stars in the region.His parents told police about a “worrisome” phone call and text messages that their son, a Morehouse College and Harvard University graduate, had left for them on Feb. 11.Police said Thursday his body was identified by dental records. A toxicology report is pending.

Timothy Cunningham, a 35-year-old Harvard-educated leader within the nation’s health protection agency, was found dead late Tuesday night in the Chattahoochee River, which runs near his home, police said Thursday. A medical examiner identified his remains and said the cause of death was drowning.

Fulton County chief medical examiner Dr. Jan Gorniak, tells reporters that a body found in Chattahoochee River Tuesday has been identified as missing CDC employee Timothy Cunningham during a news conference Thursday, April 5, 2018, in Atlanta. Gorniak said the cause of death was drowning and she found no signs of foul play.

“The most unusual factor in this case is that every single belonging that we are aware of was located in the residence,” O’Connor said. “His keys, his cell phone, credit cards, debit cards, wallet, all his identification, passport — everything you can think of, we’ve been able to locate. None of those items are missing.”

According to People, Cunningham’s career highlights included co-writing 28 publications about how health issues affect minorities. He also worked on numerous public health emergencies, including the Ebola outbreak and the Zika virus.

“It was very difficult terrain, very difficult to access the location of where Mr. Cunningham was found,” Stafford said. “It was in a remote area that’s not easily accessible by walking trails, by vehicle or by people just being around there.”